Episode 134: Come Back to the World

What the previous SttM was to cranking the filter knob clockwise to make a track sound tinny and transistor-radio-y as a transition device, this episode is to cranking the filter knob counterclockwise to make a track sound like it’s sinking underwater as a device to prevent it from clashing with another track’s drop. Possibly some day I’ll have enough of a sense of when each is appropriate to use them both in the same mix (though maybe not, as their generic application seems quite BPM-disparate– the former works better with DnB, the latter with House)

If the previous two sentences make no sense, I apologize to you. Dance music in this age is tied to technology: the mixer and various studio modules, and so develops its own jargon of tweaks and circuits, machines identified by a string of letters and numbers. The newbie learns to hear the difference between an 808 and a 909 as a start, eventually developing a historical knowledge of which machine is tied to which genres in which periods, and which genres hearken back to previous eras by using (or faking) which vintage gear. This is not unique. In rock music, for example, some bands do a good job of harvesting Led Zeppelinisms, others not so much.

Aaaaaaaaanyway… This mix begins with some rock and pop, before segueing through a ballroom-y club edit to a series of… I still haven’t found a suitable adjective to capture what exactly so-called club music is doing these days, so… I dunno. It’s the stuff that folks are calling club these days, which stomps hard and sounds nothing like the ‘oontz oontz’ fare that the name might conjure in most minds. I got sick of making excuses for genre terms over the past ten years of endless “no, it’s the GOOD kind of Dubstep!” assurances falling on deaf ears. Moving right along. Maribor makes the pivot from club to techno, before DANNN brings it back around with his Missy Elliott refix. But there’s a twist ending! Dance rock from Messr. Murphy and crew, followed by a Twigs cooldown.

If the previous entire paragraph made no sense, I apologize to you.

• Lush – Lit Up [Split]
• Katy B – Sapphire Blue [Little Red]
• Tinashe – 2 On (Skylaurr Rauthkeaux Respray)
• Distal – One Up [Bushido Rave EP]
• Byrell the Great – B4 (feat. Capital Kaos) [Chopped Cheese]
• Dehousy – Akaneka [CyberSonicLA Vol 2]
• Wristboi – Warboi (Seablaze Remix) [Warboi EP]
• Thodén – DIESEL [Crash EP]
• Maribor – Anabol [Anabol]
• Nathan Fake – Arcaibh [Sunder EP]
• Ben Klock – Gloaming [One]
• Deadboy – Come Back to the World [DEEMZ]
• Special Request – Lolita (Dub Mix) [HOUNDSTOOTH FIVE YEARS]
• Hubie Davison – Khayyam Grey [Khayyam Grey]
• Missy Elliott – Lose Control (DANNN Translucency Break) [BUILD Reconstructions Vol. 2]
• LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver [Sound of Silver]
• FKA Twigs – Kicks [LP1]

BPM: 127